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Income and Mining Tax Expense - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Jun. 30, 2010
Total Mining Operations
Income Taxes [Line Items]
Tax losses available for deduction against future income	$ 525.3	$ 928.5	$ 958.2
Orogen Investments SA (Luxembourg)
Income Taxes [Line Items]
Tax losses available for deduction against future income	130.8	136.5	145.3
Maximum number of years losses can be carried forward	5 years
Gold Fields Australia (Pty) Limited | Total Mining Operations
Income Taxes [Line Items]
Tax losses available for deduction against future income		$ 177.6	$ 251.9
Gold Fields Ghana Limited
Income Taxes [Line Items]
Maximum number of years losses can be carried forward	5 years
Abosso Goldfields Limited
Income Taxes [Line Items]
Maximum number of years losses can be carried forward	5 years

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Tax Loss Carryforwards, Maximum Period Carried Forward

+ References

No definition available.

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The sum of domestic, foreign and state and local operating loss carryforwards, before tax effects, available to reduce future taxable income under enacted tax laws.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 109

-Paragraph 48

-Subparagraph a

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.



Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 740

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 3

-Subparagraph (a)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6907707&loc=d3e32559-109319

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